1. Field
The present application is generally directed to integrated circuits and more specifically to integrated circuits that include inductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, electronic devices use inductors to store energy in magnetic fields. For example, integrated circuit oscillators (e.g., inductor-capacitor (LC) “tank” circuits) use inductors to generate oscillating signals for certain applications (e.g., inclusion in a narrow bandwidth phase-locked loop (PLL)). However, in those integrated circuit applications, a low-noise, high-Q (i.e., quality factor) LC oscillator is typically required. It is difficult to achieve a low-noise, high Q (e.g., Q>20) LC oscillator with conventional integrated circuit techniques. In addition, the inductors of the LC oscillator circuits are susceptible to electromagnetic interference from external sources of noise.